Ben Tennyson
Benjamin "Ben" Tennyson, also Known As Ben 10, is the main protagonist of the series. He is a typical ten-year-old boy—he plays video games, rides his skateboard, and often gets into mischief. However, his life changes when the Omnitrix latches onto his wrist. Unable to remove it, he uses its powers to become a hero. However, he finds the job trickier than he imagined, especially with the evil alien warlord Vilgax pursuing him relentlessly to retrieve the Omnitrix. editOriginal series Ben is something of a glory hog, sometimes taking credit that he does not deserve.1 He also tends to be a sore loser, especially when it is Gwen - with whom he shares a love-hate relationship - who outdoes him. Ben is not above using the Omnitrix to pull pranks, even during urgent situations.2 In spite of all this, Ben is good-hearted and will stop at nothing to protect his family or anyone in danger. Even when not in alien form, Ben's resourcefulness has saved himself and others from many a dire situation, especially when the Omnitrix cannot activate or does not provide him with the form he originally wants. Ben also suffered from a fear of clowns until the episode "Last Laugh". It is also mentioned several times that Ben has poor hygiene. Ben's relationship with Gwen in the original series is complex. The two of them bicker almost constantly, can hardly agree with each other on anything (the only exception being their dislike of Max's bizarre cooking), and their fights have, on occasion, even led to physical confrontations. Despite all of this, they truly care about each other, showing genuine concern when the other is in serious danger. A prominent example is in Ben 10: Secret of the Omnitrix, when Ben is deeply saddened when it is thought that Gwen had died, and hugged her while in tears when it is revealed that she had survived. editBen 10: Alien Force In the sequel series, Ben 10: Alien Force, Ben (now voiced by Yuri Lowenthal) is a much more mature, resourceful and responsible character, having learned the value of teamwork through his role as a goalkeeper for his soccer team, and at the same time growing out of his childish antics. He now sports a black shirt, a green jacket with a white vertical line with the number 10 on it, while his soccer uniform resembles his original clothing (incidentally, his jersey number is also 10). Ben found a way to remove the Omnitrix roughly five years before the series began, allowing him to live a normal life. When Grandpa Max goes missing, he teams up with Gwen and a reformed Kevin to find him. Ben is now far more adept at using the Omnitrix, actually thinking about which alien would be most effective against an opponent or the most appropriate for a situation, rather than simply selecting the one with the most physical power as he originally did. The fact that the new Omnitrix does not malfunction as it once did helps. His relationship with Gwen is also better; they get along much better and are no longer openly hostile towards one another. When Ben puts the Omnitrix back on, it recalibrates, giving him access to a new set of alien forms; in addition, it reconfigures into a more watch-like shape with a new symbol (resembling that of a Plumber's badge) and gains additional abilities, such as repairing genetic damage. It also carries a new weakness: if Ben's aliens are hurt, Ben himself retains the injuries when he reverts to human form, though this has not proven to be any significant problem so far. Contrary to the Omnitrix's previous ill-timed deactivations, the new Omnitrix seems to remain active as long as it needs to. Ben changes back to human form at will, and can transform to another alien within an instant. However, its power will eventually deplete and requires time to recharge. Ben has also learned martial arts from Gwen in order to minimize his reliance on the Omnitrix. In 'Alien Force', it is noteworthy that Ben has become quite famous for his reputation in the alien underground, the fish-like alien Plumber Magister Labrid referring to him as "the legendary Ben Tennyson", and Mike Morningstar mentioning that he is a big fan of Ben's, and surprised to see him after his five-year disappearance. After ending the conflict with the Highbreed, Ben receives numerous medals from various alien species as a reward. Over time, Ben's status as an interstellar celebrity goes to his head, and he begins to show many of the negative traits that were prominent in the original series, becoming cocky, arrogant, and overconfident with himself and constantly bragging that he single-handedly saved the entire universe, which irritates both Gwen and Kevin. In the third season premiere episode "The Vengeance of Vilgax" his arrogance eventually leads him to try to hack the Omnitrix to re-unlock the master control despite Azmuth warning him not to, resulting in Chromastone, Way Big, Spidermonkey, and Goop escaping the Omnitrix and Kevin permanently transforming into a being with a segmented body composed of several different substances. He manages to recapture them in time to face the returning Vilgax in a battle for the fate of the Earth. In the ensuing battle, Vilgax shatters Chromastone but the Omnitrix reforms him into Diamondhead, which Ben uses to defeat Vilgax. After this, Ben seemingly gets back his maturity, and stops acting immature (though he still thinks that his celebrity status can help him out as seen in "Simple" and "Vreedle, Vreedle". It failed to help him in "Simple" but succeeded in "Vreedle, Vreedle".). editLove Interests Kai Green (voiced by Bettina Bush), the granddaughter of Max Tennyson's fellow friend of a Navajo descent whom Ben liked in "Benwolf". Their relationship lasted two days when Kai stated to Ben that 'he just wasn't her type'. She reappeared as a non-speaking character in "Perfect Day". However, in the future, according to Cartoon Network, Ben would get married to Kai. Julie Yamamoto (Voiced by Vyvan Pham), an Asian-American student & teenage tennis player who is currently Ben's love interest. She first appears in the pilot episode of Ben 10: Alien Force as a crowd attendant to Ben's soccer match. In the end of "War of the Worlds", Ben and Julie get close to kissing, but decide against it, as Gwen, Kevin, and Max were all looking on. Ben then tells her that he will walk her to school the next day, and Julie gets home by riding Ship.